Can strip remover



g- 1956 R. G. SIMMONDS 2,759,626

CAN STRIP REMOVER Filed Aug. 17, 1953 INVENTOR. B/CHAQD' 5. cslMMavD Patented Aug. 21, 1956 CAN STRIP REMOVER Richard G. Simmonds, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application August 17, 1953, Serial No. 374,581

3 Claims. (Cl. 220-52) This invention relates to can openers of the strip remover type for opening cans in which a portion of the side or top of the can is soldered to the can to form a rip strip, a small portion of which is left projecting to form a tongue, tab, or wag to which the opener can be applied.

At present, it is the custom of dealers in certain canned goods to furnish an opener key, intended to be used but once, which is employed to engage the pre-formed tab or tongue on the can and by a winding action to remove the rip strip and to coil it upon itself around the opener key, thereby enabling the opening of the can.

For a number of reasons, these openers are not very satisfactory and sometimes they may not be furnished at all. They are usually relatively small and of flimsy construction and, therefore, often break in use. They are hard to operate because they are not large and sturdy enough and do not provide sufficient leverage. Further, they have been found to be easy to misapply so as to become bent, displaced or misaligned in use. In such' cases, they fail to maintain the concentricity of alignment of the stripped coils and a partially removed n'p strip may become twisted or may be broken and theopening thereby interrupted to result in a partially opened can. Furthermore, such openers are dangerous in that they do not provide against the hazard presented by the sharpness of the stripped edges.

Although a number of openers which are not of the disposable type are known, in general they are also subject to most of the above difliculties and in addition present the problem of the removal of the rip strip winding from the opener so that it can be stored and used again. At present there is no universal opener suitable for opening all types and sizes of cans whether cylindrical or flat (as sardine or anchovy cans) wherein a rip .portion of the wall or top of the can is removed to open the can. "11 Accordingly it is the. primary object of the invention to provide a universal and adjustable opener simple in operation and durable in construction for removing a rip portion from a can, whereby to open same.

It is a further object of the invention to provide such an opener for engaging the rip strip and for coiling the same ofi the can in a ready manner and without a chance of twisting or breaking the strip before it has been removed to completely open the can.

It is a further object to provide such an opener which is protective against injury to persons due to the sharpness of the stripped edges.

It is a further object to provide such an opener wherein the strip winding may be easily removed from the opener so that it may be cleaned, stored and used again.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation showing the opener applied to a can to be opened.

Fig. 2 is a view of the opener in front elevation.

Fig. 3 is a view in cross section through the line III--III of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a view in side elevation partially in longitudinal section.

Fig. 5 is a side elevational view of the opener assembly.

Fig. 6 is a view in cross section through the line VIVI of Fig. 4, showing the way the tab of the rip strip is engaged.

Fig. 7 is a diagram showing the maner in which a partially removed rip strip is coiled about the opener.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary side view-showing another means for revolving the cylindrical tube and pinch rod.

Referring now to Fig. 1, the numeral 10 indicates a can having a sidewall rip strip 11, that may be removed whereby to open the can, the rip stn'p having an end tab portion 12, that is designed to .be engaged by an opener.

In the several figures, the numeral 20 designates an opener, in accordance with the invention, shown applied to the can 10, and consisting of an opener assembly 21 which is supported upright in a pedestal stand 22.

The opener assembly 21 includes a cylindrical tube 23 having a relatively wide short open slot 24 in its upper end, and a relatively narrow long open slot 25 in its lower end. For a purpose to be further explained, the slot 25 may have a bevelled lip 26, as clearly shown in Fig. 6. A solid rod-like pinch bar 27, having a knurled knob 28 at its upper end, a laterally extending pin 29 adjacent and below the knob .28, and a sharpened lower tip 30, is loosely and removably positioned within the tube 23, with the pin 29 in the upper slot 24, in the manner shown.

The pedestal stand 22 illustrated has a lower base 31, two upright members 32, 33, and an upper shelf or bracket 34. The upper shelf 34 is provided with an upper can guide 35, an upper. can positioning shoulder 36-, and an elongated slot 37. .The lower base has a corresponding lower can guide 38, a lower can positioning shoulder 39, and a socket 41. .-The .upper can guide 35 is fixedly attached to the shelf-34, and the lower can guide 38 is fixedly attached tothe base 31; A movable-member 42 carrying an upwardly directed can guide 43, a downwardly directed can guide.44 and a handle 45 is slidably mounted on the supporting members 32, 33 as s'hown inFigr3. I f

For opening cans where considerable leverage is needed to rip the strip from the can, an opener assembly having an upper crank portion; as shown in Fig. 8 may be-provided. I I. w I

The application and the operation of the opener is as follows: 3 t The pedestal stand 22 is firstapplied to the can to be opened by positioning the can guides so that the lower can guide 38 engages the lower rim of the can, and so that either the guide 44 carried by the movable member 42 or the upper can guide 35 engages the upper rim of the can. If the can is a large can, such as a two-pound cofiee can, the upper can guide 35 will fit onto the upper rim, and the movable can guide 44 will not be employed, except as a holder in an obvious manner. If the can is a smaller can, the movable can guide 44 will be employed and be positioned as shown in Fig. 1.

Next the cylindrical tube 23 of the opener assembly 21 is inserted through the elongated slot 37 in the upper shelf portion of the stand 22 and is lowered until its lower end is seated in the socket 41 of the lower base 31. The tube is then rotated until the slot 25 is disposed toward the tab end 12 of the rip strip 11.

The tab end of the rip strip is then raised from the can using the sharpened tip 30 of the pinch member 27 if necessary.

The pinch member 27 is now placed in the tube 23 in the position shown in Fig. l, with its pin 29, in proper slotted relationship with the slot 24.

Now the tab end 12 is inserted through the lower slot 25 in the tube; and the operation of the opener is initiated by turning the knurled knob 28 slowly at first to cause the tab end 12 of the rip strip 11 to be pinched between the pinch bar 27 and the bevelled lip 26 of the tube 23 in the manner shown in Fig. 6. As soon as the tab end of the rip strip binds, the continued rotation of the knurled knob causes the strip to be peeled off the can and to be coiled concentrically around the tube 23 in the manner shown in Fig. 7. As clearly illustrated in Fig. 7, the bevelled lip 26 is effective to maintain the true concentricity of the coil layers, which would otherwise for man objectionable hump or protuberance over the lip 26. Also, the guide slot 37 in the pedestal stand 34 being elongated as clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 4, allows the opener assembly to cant outwardly of the can as the rip strip is being removed and coiled concentrically around the tube 23, and thereby provides additional space between the can and the tube 23, to accommodate for the increasing diameter of the strip. With the continued rotation of the knurled knob the rip strip will finally be completely peeled oif and break away from the can.

Ordinarily, when the peeled off coiled rip strip breaks away from the can it expands as a coil spring does, and thereby loosens its pinching engagement between the tube 23 and pinch bar 27. When it does, it slides down the tube 23 to the lower base 31, from which it can be removed by lifting the assembly 21 slightly until it falls ofi the bottom. However, if the coil does not free itself in the above manner, it is easily removed by withdrawing the assembly and thereby stripping it off as it strikes the undersides of the slot 37.

In order to clean the opener, the entire opener assembly 21 may be completely removed from the stand by lifting it through the slot 37 in the upper shelf 34.

The opener assembly 21 may also be removed from the stand 22 and separately used to open very small cans, where the strip is relatively easy to tear off, and the additional support of the stand is not required.

The opener is capable of being used to open flat cans such as sardine cans where the entire top of the can is peeled off to open the can. In this case, the opener is applied to the flat top of such cans so that the proper can guides engage the top rim of the can on each side, and so that the slot of'the opener assembly properly engages the tab end, all in a manner which is believed to be clear.

Having fully described my invention, it is to be understood that I do not wish to be limited to the details herein set forth, but my invention is of the full scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A device for removing a sealing rip strip from a metallic can comprising: an assembly including a tubular member provided with a longitudinal slot open at one end and adapted to receive an end tab of a can sealing rip strip, a solid tab-pinching rod selectively and loosely insertable into the tubular member to pinch the end tab between the tubular member and said rod, said tab-pinching rod being provided with a handle at one end whereby said rod may be rotated, means for translating rotation of the tab-pinching rod into simultaneous rotation of the tubular member, a pedestal stand including an upper can-edge engaging means mounted for vertical movement on said stand, a lower socket adapted to rotatably receive the lower end of the assembly, and a guide slot at the top of the pedestal stand, said guide slot being elongated toward the can-engaging means and adapted to slidably and rotatably receive the assembly.

A device for removing a sealing rip strip from a metallic can comprising: an assembly including a tubular member having a cylindrical wall, said wall being slotted longitudinally to receive a tab of a rip strip, a tab-pinching member extending longitudinally in said tubular member and adapted to hold said tab in said tubular member, means for axially rotating said pinching member with said tubular member, a pedestal stand comprising an upright member having a lower base with a socket to rotatably receive the lower end of said assembly, an upper bracket with a guide slot to receive the upper end of said assembly, a lower can guide fixed on said lower base, an upper can guide fixed on said upper bracket, and a movable can guide slidably mounted on said upright member.

3. A device for removing a sealing rip strip from a metallic can comprising: a base provided with means for engaging the lower rim of a can, uprights provided with an upper bracket carried by the base; a vertically and adjustably positionable can guide means carried by the uprights and engageable with the upper rim of a can; a slotted tube rotatably mounted in the base and extending through a lateral slot in the upper bracket whereby the upper portion of said tube may be moved toward the upper rim of a can to engage the end of a can rip strip; a rod-like pinch bar in said slotted tube provided with means for rotating said pinch bar and slotted tube coupled thereto by the end of a can rip strip inserted between said tube and pinch bar.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,646,719 Young Oct. 25, 1927 2,578,379 Taylor Dec. 11, 1951 2,634,883 Stiller Apr. 14, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 69,462 Switzerland July 1, 1915 850,255 France Sept. 4, 1939 692,515 Germany June 21, 1940 

